A Dangerous Woman

From Publishers Weekly
Sexually humiliated as a teenager, ostracized by her community and recently fired from her job, high-strung Martha Horgan, 32, falls obsessively and tragically in love with a charming boozer. "In this compelling, suspenseful narrative, Morris speaks to larger issues while limning an unforgettable portrait of a vulnerable woman," said PW.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Martha Horgan, the emotionally disabled protagonist, was gang-raped as a teenager; now, 15 years later, her life is finally flowing smoothly. She has moved away from her cold, domineering aunt and has a job at the cleaners, a room in a boarding house, even a worshipful admirer in Wesley Mount, the town mortician. But someone has been stealing from the till and "Marthorgan," as her taunters call her, gets canned. Back at her aunt's place she is seduced by the caretaker, a frustrated, manipulative writer, and then must suffer through his affair with her aunt. What makes Martha a dangerous woman is her unfailing honesty; she hasn't learned the world's way of lying, of hiding behind a social mask. At one point Birdy, her friend, tries on Martha's glasses to see if she really does view the world differently. Though the subject matter is somber, Morris tells a powerful tale. Her first novel ( The Waiting Room, LJ 5/15/89) was a National Book Award and a PEN/Faulkner nominee. Recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/90.
- Doris Lynch, Oakland P.L., Cal.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
Behind her thick glasses, Martha Horgan's eyes have a watchful intensity that unnerves people. Her temper is legendary. Whether working in a dry cleaner's, attending a Tupperware party, or babysitting, for her '... every incident was high drama, every confrontation a disaster, every slight a blow'. All her life Martha has been mocked and abused as abnormal. She longs for conformity but at the same time hates the lies and hypocrisy that lie at the heart of small-town life. Funny, sad and startlingly original, this is a mesmerising and beautifully written love story. (Kirkus UK)

The author of National Book Award nominee Vanished (1988) is back with the painfully focused story of Martha Horgan - imprisoned in a tiny Vermont town by her blinkered neighbors, her unflinching honesty, and the madness that leads finally to murder. Attacked as a teen-ager by a gang of schoolboys, fired from her job at the cleaner's after she sees manager Birdy Dusser's boyfriend Getso dipping into the register (he blames the thefts on her), traumatized by her pathetic inability to attract love or even belief, Martha retreats to the house of her penny-pinching aunt Frances Beecham, who'd rather concentrate on her extended affair with Steve Bell, who's still mired in a hopeless marriage. When Frances advertises for a handyman, alcoholic, self-doubting would-be writer Colin Mackey signs on, and author Morris lets Frances, Mack, and Martha simmer while she slowly turns up the heat: Mack guiltily seduces Martha; Martha keeps trying frantically to get in touch with Birdy to tell her the truth about the pilfering Getso; Frances finds herself attracted to Mack. Never seeing how her refusal to lie is maddening herself and repulsing the few people - clubwoman Julia Prine, shy mortician Wesley Mount - who try to help her, Martha, tossed out of Frances's house, flees to sanctuary with reclusive old Mr. Weilman - but, maddened by taunts from neighborhood children who think of her as monstrous "Marthorgan," never succeeds in her frenzied quest to be left alone by a normal community whose madness echoes her own. Spellbinding reading, and a searching portrait of its pathetic, unlovable heroine: a powerful book indeed. (Kirkus Reviews) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description
Relentlessly honest, Martha Horgan becomes vulnerable to the deceitful ways of those around her, including her wealthy aunt and guardian Frances, her cruel mentor Birdy, and the manic and seductive Colin Mackey. Reprint. 35,000 first printing. NYT. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Publisher
10 1.5-hour cassettes --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From AudioFile
Martha Horgan, the central figure in Morris's deeply affecting second novel, is an endlessly exasperating character. Suffering a mental illness that is never defined, she yearns for love and human connections yet is incapable of fathoming how to fulfill those needs. Surrounded by people who are themselves selfish, self-absorbed or uncaring, Martha's possibilities for happiness are dim indeed. In a heartbreaking and intelligent performance, Phimister conveys the depths of Martha's desire and her frustrations at deciphering the nature of others. Phimister's clipped voice captures the tortured young Vermont woman's vulnerability, as well as the brittleness that intimidates those around her. As the story proceeds, the sense of impending calamity for a character you have come to like becomes almost unbearable. M.O. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.